He said he met the religious women in real life, before starting an online correspondence with them.

The clergyman is a suspect in the disappearance of Guerrina Piscaglia, a 50-year-old woman who vanished from her village of Cà Raffaello, near Arezzo in May.

The married mother-of-one was a parishioner at the church ran by Alabi and another priest.

Police, however, suspect there was more to their relationship and said the two had exchanged a high volume of text messages and phone calls, including on the day of her disappearance, Italian media reported.

Alabi is accused of aiding and abetting a kidnapping or murder and has been banned from leaving Italy, pending the investigation.

The priest has appealed the measure, which prevents him from taking up a new assignment in the town of Saint Cloud, France.

Piscaglia's husband, Mirko Alessandrini, is also being investigated for making false statements to authorities.